Japan

NEW food products for weight watchers and diabetics may soon be allowed on to supermarket and chemist shelves even if they do not comply with European Union law.

EU foreign ministers traded ideas for the post-war reconstruction of the former Yugoslavia, but made no progress this week other than to give the official go-ahead to member states and the European Commission to study reconstruction plans.

THE European Commission will decide next week whether to clear the Greek government’s plan to sell half of its largest shipbuilding company to its workforce, so clearing the way for a possible German consortium bid to manage the yard.

ROBERT Verrue, a 47-year-old career fonctionnaire, is the favourite to take over as the new head of DGXIII, the Directorate-General for telecommunications, following the retirement of Michel Carpentier.

Edith Cresson’s Chef deCabinet François Lamourex, once known within theCommission as the “ayatollah” because of his fervent federalism, could be on the move.

THE European Commission has protested to Japan over claims of “restrictive practices” in the shipping sector. The complaint follows what Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock’s spokeswoman, Sarah Lambert, described as two years’ of unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem “on an informal basis”.

ConcertsBelgian National Orchestra conducted by Jansug Kakhidze with Maxim Vengerov, violin: Sibelius’ Tapiola, Brahms’ Violin Concerto Opus 77, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5. Palais des Beaux-Arts. Sept. 21.

Sir Leon Brittan’s little faux pas over EU foreign policy was greeted with commendable restraint by arch rival Hans van den Broek.